Hot Topics:

Nashoba Valley Tech school panel OKs preliminary $11.7M budget

By Pierre Comtois, Correspondent

Updated:
02/06/2013 12:17:15 AM EST

WESTFORD -- The Nashoba Valley Technical School Committee unanimously approved a preliminary school budget covering fiscal 2014, totaling $11,722,242, including $200,000 to be reserved for the district's newly established stabilization fund.

In addition to local aid money provided by the state, the budget includes $7,469,524 to be assessed to the district's member towns of Chelmsford, Groton, Littleton, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend, Westford and new member Ayer as their share of the cost.

The preliminary budget also included an extra $300,000 above the towns' minimum contributions needed to make ends meet.

The decision to ask for the increase was made at a School Committee meeting Jan. 29, in which members voted to increase overall spending for fiscal 2014 by $650,000, of which $350,000 would be covered by the district.

Should the numbers in the preliminary budget hold, Ayer, with 53 students to attend Nashoba Valley in fiscal 2014, would be assessed at $600,928; Chelmsford with 154 students would be assessed at $2,187,180; Groton with 33 students would be assessed at $468,592; Littleton with 51 students would be assessed at $689,712; Pepperell with 116 students would be assessed at $1,140,639; Shirley with 71 students, would be assessed at $715,441; Townsend with 102 students, would be assessed at $703,202; and Westford with 57 students would be assessed at $703,202.

Advertisement

The fiscal 2014 budget will also be aided by contributions from the state for an estimated $422,903 based on Gov. Deval Patrick's recently submitted budget.

Superintendent of Schools Judith Klimkiewicz expressed caution in relying on Patrick's budget numbers based on the assumption that a recently proposed hike in the state's income tax would be approved by the Legislature.

The vote approving the preliminary budget was taken Tuesday immediately following a public hearing at which Klimkiewicz gave a presentation outlining the fiscal 2014 budget.

Klimkiewicz 's presentation was led off by the results of a study by the Pioneer Institute that found tech schools such as Nashoba had a superior retention rate of students graduating than regular comprehensive high schools.

Klimkiewicz said Nashoba Valley Tech has had "zero" drop outs since 2009 and has had top scores in the state's MCAS testing program, as well as in SATs.

Klimkiewicz briefed School Committee members about ongoing improvements at Nashoba, including a new outdoor-sports complex and dance studio scheduled to come online over the next year.

"I think it covers everything," said committee vice-chairwoman Jennifer Rhodes of the budget. "It is well done and carefully thought out with the best interests of all our member towns."

School officials will begin a round of visits with member towns' fiscal teams to brief them on the proposed budget before moving on to Town Meetings.

"The preliminary budget is fair and reasonable and I think it will be accepted by the towns," said Rhodes. "I've never seen a budget so well controlled from any other school district."

Members were also:

* Introduced to student of the month Rebecca Updyke of Townsend. A senior, Updyke is enrolled in the school's health program and intends to pursue a career in psychiatric nursing after graduation.

* Learned that the school's robotics team came in 19th out of 54 at regional competitions held last year in Boston. For the 2013 competition in March, the team has recruited 18 new members and must design and build a robot that, among other things, must learn how to climb a wall.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.